Craftsman 351 lathe

[kirk Witmer]

Hello, I posted the last thread I am also looking at a Craftsman 351.217170 with a 15x38" capacity, any experience with it turning heavy wood, if I get it I'll use it for large heavy bowl turning, Is this a good lathe, and is it powerful enough for large turning? Thanks!

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I Have a vintage Craftsman. I will check the similarities to those model numbers. Mine is definitely not heavy duty.

The Craftsman 351.217170 looks fairly capable. here is an image from the web.

Screen Shot 2022-08-30 at 6.27.24 PM.jpg

[Sam Force]

Where are you located? Might find a better choice out there, I would not think the craftsman lathe is made for "heavy" loads

[Jeffrey J Smith]

I had a smaller version of that lathe - 12" swing I believe. The headstock looks virtually the same. Its a reeves drive - needs frequent cleaning/care to keep on working. The motors on Craftsman lathes are notiously underpowered. For occasional spindle work, it might be worth it if it was cheap, but for bowls of anywhere near the max dia it will be severely underpowered. If you're looking for a bowl lathe, I'd look elsewhere - maybe a used Jet 1642 that can be often picked up at a reasonable price.

[kirk Witmer]

Im located in central Pa near altoona, Thanks for the input, Id like a Jet 1642 but i cant find one sub $1000

[Sam Force]

I know of a Powermatic 2020 locally that could be had for $2500. Maybe a tad cheaper, in central Illinois

[Dan Hunkele]

I had that lathe and the spindle bearings are a problem. The lathe works well for spindle turning but does poorly with items held in a chuck as in bowl turning. I would not advise purchasing it.

[kirk Witmer]

Thanks Dan, I would prefer not to spend more than 1k Sam although the pm 2020 is a great lathe

[Roger Chandler]

Hello, I posted the last thread I am also looking at a Craftsman 351.217170 with a 15x38" capacity, any experience with it turning heavy wood, if I get it I'll use it for large heavy bowl turning, Is this a good lathe, and is it powerful enough for large turning? Thanks!

I had that identical model as my first lathe. It is not a reeves drive, but a gear driven spindle. The manufacturer [Palmgren] changed over to a reeves drive on the second year Sears offered that 15” varible speed lathe. The gear drive broke in my headstock, and no parts were availble to replace it on planet earth. Believe me, I tried and tried, even going so far as talking to 3 machine shops about making one for that lathe. To make the thing it required a hobbing machine and that one part would cost nearly $1000 to make, and I only paid $699 for the lathe. I ended up taking the thing to the scrap metal recycler! The spindle does not have a thru hole in it, and you’dbe better off getting something like a jet, Grizzly G0766, or even a Laguna 18/36.

[Richard Coers]

What's the slowest speed on the Craftsman lathe? That is the usual restriction for turning larger bowl blanks.